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STOCKHOLM—A dispute between the Swedish armed forces and ThyssenKrupp AG TKA.XE +1.39% threatens one of the German industrial giant's most-profitable operations and could shake up the growing global submarine business. The row, which is partly over export possibilities, has prompted Sweden to yank contracts for the next generation of Swedish submarines from ThyssenKrupp, the world's largest exporter of nonnuclear submarines. Sweden has signaled that it instead is considering giving the work to Swedish defense company Saab AB. Currently, Saab doesn't build manned submarines, but it acknowledges it is trying to poach engineers from ThyssenKrupp's submarine unit, which is based around...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a substance called Vacquinol-1 makes cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumour, literally explode. When mice were given the substance, which can be given in tablet form, tumour growth was reversed and survival was prolonged. The findings are published in the journal Cell . The established treatments that are available for glioblastoma include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. But even if this treatment is given the average survival is just 15 months. It is therefore critical to find better treatments for malignant brain tumours. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and...

The continuing crisis in Ukraine has the reputedly peaceful Swedes rethinking the nation's defense doctrine, and some are using the situation as a way to push for NATO membership in the run-up to parliamentary elections. Only a few weeks after announcing cuts to the defense budget, Finance Minister Anders Borg told the TT news agency Wednesday "there is a lot indicating" that more money will have to be allocated to military defense. Much of the political debate leading up to the elections in September has been focused on the need to spend more on education and other domestic policies, so...

To glimpse Swedish angst under its picture postcard prosperity, look no further than film director Lisa Ohlin, who has enjoyed years of tax cuts in an economy the envy of Europe. Homes in her Stockholm neighborhood cost around $1 million. But this leafy, well-heeled area is a microcosm of Sweden, where eyes are on a struggling school with strained finances, not enough teachers and poor results. Like many Swedes, Ohlin wants her cherished welfare state back. […] Voters like Ohlin are returning to faith in cradle to grave welfare after eight years of center-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who cut...

Sweden: Parliament official orders bare-breasted painting removed … for Muslims STOCKHOLM, Sweden, – A painting of a bare-breasted woman has been removed from the Swedish Riksdag’s guest dining room on orders from the legislature’s deputy speaker. Deputy Speaker Susanne Eberstein of the Social Democrat party ordered the painting, “Juno” by baroque artist G.E. Schroder, to be removed from the guest dining room, where it had hung since 1983, TheLocal.se reported Thursday. “We routinely change paintings from time to time,” a Riksdag representative said in response to an inquiry from news agency TT. A parliamentary source who asked to remain anonymous...

A year-in-review show accidentally used a rendition of the national anthem performed by a Swedish Nazi group to accompany images of US president Barack Obama. Sveriges Television (SVT) chose to put imagery from Obama's historic visit to Stockholm last year to the tune of the Swedish national anthem Du gamla, du fria. The hunt for a "scaled back" version of the song backfired, however, after observers noted the pared-down rendition was recorded by the band Svensk ungdom (Swedish youth). Anti-racism magazine Expo reported that its members have been outspoken Nazis. Ulf Johansson, publisher of SVT's year-in-review program, told the tabloid...

Ulf Ekman The pastor of Sweden’s largest non-denominational megachurch shocked Christians in his own community and around the world this weekend, by announcing that he is entering the Roman Catholic Church.* * * * *Several times in the last month, I wrote about bold initiatives in ecumenism, most notably the exchange of greetings and blessings between Pope Francis and evangelical pastor Kenneth Copeland, brokered by Anglican Bishop Tony Palmer. Perhaps I spoke too soon, though—for this latest surprise is just as remarkable in the Christian world, once again pointing toward a quest for unity which would have seemed impossible just...

Details: During his Sunday morning service, Ulf Ekman announced the he and his wife, Birgitta, are converting to Roman Catholicism.Ekman is the founder of Word of Life, a megachurch in Uppsala, Sweden. News reports and blogs coming out of the nation reveal congregation was “partially stunned” after hearing what was packaged as a “special announcement.” The theme was “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”“For Birgitta and me, this has been a slow process where we have gone from discovering new things, to appreciating what we have discovered, to approach and even learn from our fellow Christians,” Ekman says on his...

During his Sunday morning service, Ulf Ekman announced the he and his wife, Birgitta, are converting to Roman Catholicism.Ekman is the founder of Word of Life, a megachurch in Uppsala, Sweden. News reports and blogs coming out of the nation reveal congregation was “partially stunned” after hearing what was packaged as a “special announcement.” The theme was “follow the Lamb wherever He goes."“For Birgitta and me, this has been a slow process were we have gone from discovering new things, to appreciating what we have discovered, to approach and even learn from our fellow Christians,” Ekman says on his ministry...

Sweden said Wednesday it would stop development aid payments to Uganda “because of the anti-gay legislation” passed in late February. “The government reaffirms its strong condemnation of the Ugandan legislation that violates the fundamental rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people,” International Aid Minister Hillevi Engström said. […] Other European nations, namely Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, announced on the very same day that they would freeze their aid to the Ugandan state or redirect it towards private sector initiatives, aid agencies and rights organizations. …

My substance is your makeup but do not look for it to be anatomical and my atomic number is eternal never wasting away for truly I AM Wonderful in ALL aspects of this one word "ETERNAL". I AM thus an eternal constant and there is no slide rule that can measure my kingdom for I have no beginning or end to measure yet I have storehouses ,does my Word not proclaim this ?! So tell me my children is there really a need to be earthbound when even now you carry this makeup within you ?! Let me allow you...

The Canadian men’s hockey team took gold on the final day of the 2014 Olympics, defeating Sweden 3-0 in the gold medal game at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Sunday.

Concerns are growing over the lack of progress on Sweden’s A26 next-generation submarine programme, which is being developed to replace the Swedish Navy’s current Södermanland-class vessels. Despite the purchase of two submarines being approved by Swedish lawmakers in 2010, firm orders have yet to be placed. Kockums submarine Contract negotiations are still ongoing between Swedish shipbuilders Kockums, who will manufacturer the vessel, and Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration (FMV). Differences between the two parties have significantly slowed contract negotiations, but details of what those differences actually are remain unknown. Both sides are tight-lipped on the whole process. ""The company will be...

Swedish disco titans ABBA weren’t as fond of sequins as it may have appeared. According to ABBA: The Official Photo Book, released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the group career-making Eurovision victory for Waterloo, the Swedish foursome adopted their outlandish dressing style in order to ensure they could deduct the cost of their costumes under Swedish tax code. According to the book, Swedish laws allowed work wear to be tax deductible so long as it was demonstrably apparel that couldn’t be worn on the street – which, with its garish coloring and liberal use of sparkle, ABBA’s certainly was....

An Alaska senator said the State Department called his office today to say that they would be creating a post for a U.S. ambassador to the Arctic. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) introduced the United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act a year ago, pressing Secretary of State John Kerry to make the appointment on economic and national security grounds. Six of the eight Arctic nations currently have ambassador-level diplomats representing their interests before the Arctic Council. The United States will assume the chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2015. “It’s not always easy explaining to Washington bureaucrats how...

… Sweden was the first country on the planet to introduce a ban on physical punishment in 1979. Thereafter, the view was taken that hierarchy within families ought to be jettisoned in favor of treating children like adults. But while the egalitarian values of social democracy might work for the economy, they have been a disaster on the domestic front. […] … (S)omething is rotten in the state of Sweden. (Psychiatrist David) Eberhard points to growing social problems in school, where Swedish pupils routinely refuse to follow teachers’ instructions, and later on in what he views as their unfulfilled young...

In my last column, I discussed the difficulties of distinguishing between right and left in Sweden’s election politics, at least when it comes to the Social Democrats. The example I used is how the party recently promised to cut the scope of the Swedish central government by 10 billion kronor ($1.5 billion). But it doesn’t stop there. The Social Democrats have gone from challenging the scope of government bureaucracy to criticizing over utilization of the social safety net. The Social Democrats in the capital region of Stockholm recently published a "Contract for the future – for the Stockholm region". The...

Sweden has a secret action plan to influence a referendum in Switzerland on the purchase of 22 new Jas Gripen fighter jets by the Swiss air force, according to Swedish media reports. Military officials, high ranking civil servants in the government, and seven ministers are aware of the plan, Sveriges Radio (SR) reported. Both Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Trade Minister Ewa Björling claim, however, that they are unaware of any such plan. Citing classified documents, the broadcaster claims that both Bildt and Björling, as well as Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, received a letter from the Swedish ambassador in Switzerland,...

“The fundamental truth [is] that no matter where you live, who you love, or who you are… every human being is, and must be, free and equal in both dignity and [legal] rights,” he told the Swedes. The political goal of equal dignity — just like the socialists’ failed goal of equal wealth — is being used to justify intense federal intrusion in every aspect of Americans’ social lives, such as in the workplace and schoolyards, Facebook pages and sporting events. Holder’s text suggests he opposes the status-distribution norms evolved by Americans, and that he wishes to forcefully redistribute social...

"This is a turning point, a change of system with far- reaching consequences for Switzerland," Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga told journalists in Berne.